According to Artisan Gateway, the Chinese film group’s patriotic war film “Volunteer: Peace Last year” won the Chinese box office gross over the weekend of October 3-5, earning RMB1.682 million ($23.4 million).
The film marks the third chapter of Chen Kaige’s “Volunteer” trilogy, starring Woo Jin and Chang Ji-i, commemorating the Chinese volunteer army entering the Korean War. That cumulative total is currently $51.3 million. It was released in the holiday week of China nationwide. The collection has not been very robust for the past few years. The film reached number four on the global box office collection charts, per ComScore.
“Evil Unbound” from Changy Film Group, directed by Zhao Linshan, moved to second place with $18.9 million. The World War II drama, centered around the Japanese Unit 731 Biological Wars Program, sold $248.5 million after its three-week release. The film was placed fifth on the global box office charts.
The sequel to Lu Yang’s 2021 fantasy action hit, Author’s Odyssey 2, debuted third place with $15.5 million. The Huace Pictures film continues to be intertwined fiction and real-life meta-narrative, with Ray Ziain revising his role with Dong Jijian and Yang Mi. The film has raised $31.3 million since it opened mid-week. The film reached 6th place on the global box office charts.
“Sound of Silence” (Lian Ray Pictures) debuted fourth with $12.6 million, totaling $14.7 million. The film is directed by Wang Li, and Tang Jiangsi, along with Lang Siya, Wang Gen, Qi Peng and Pan Binlong, stars as lawyers for deaf families who take on prominent fraud cases affecting the deaf community. The film reached 9th place on the global box office charts.
“Row to Win” (PMF Pictures) came in fifth place with $11.7 million, lifting its cume to $23.9 million. Directed by Ma Lin, the comedy drama starring Huang Bo, Fan Chengcheng, Yin Tao and Li Jiaqi follows a coastal town family, once led by a tough patriarch. The film reached number 10 on the global box office charts.
National weekend box office revenue totaled $99.9 million, with China’s annual distance of $601.2 billion in 2025, up 19.1% from the same period last year.